Dark Love- A Revenge Story
by Allennze
Summary: Draco x Hermione married His mother took their most important things, and what are they going to do about it? They will get revenge. Takes place in Hogwarts in Hermione and Draco's seventh year.
1. Chapter 1

The crisp 2-noted sound of the doorbell rang slowly. _Ding-Dooong._ Mr. and Mrs. Granger were relaxing in their home; Mr. Granger eating popcorn in front of the TV like the couch potato he is, and the cleaning-obsessed Mrs. Granger doing a final wipe-down of the kitchen counter.

"Honey!" Mrs. Granger called to her husband.

"I know, dear, I've got it…" Mr. Granger called, groaning slightly on the inside. He heaved himself up from the couch, leaving his warm, comfortable hollow in the stuffing, and shuffled in bare feet to the door.

Unassumingly, the middle-aged man opened the door.

He didn't live long enough to even see what hit him, as a bright green flash of light filled the room. His body thumped the floor.

The heavy clomping of boots was heard from the kitchen, stepping closer and closer. Mrs. Granger was still oblivious of her husband's death at this point, but she grew slightly alarmed at this unfamiliar sound. She turned her head.

"Honey? Who is this?"

Another flash of green struck her square in the chest. Her body slumped against the counter that just seconds ago, was cleaned by her.

There was no blood, no violence, no struggle. Just death.


	2. Chapter 2

_Back at Hogwarts_

The Great Hall is filled with 300 young witches and wizards as they share a quiet breakfast. A low rumble of chatter and the soft clinking of plates and cutlery are the only sounds that rustle the air during this uneventful period. The rich buttery smells of bread, bacon, eggs, and muffins waft around the four long House tables.

Soon, a huge flutter of birds clamored in in a flurry of feathers, feet, beaks, and paper. However, it is a quite usual occurance to the students of Hogwarts, and they calmly resumed their eating, stopping occasionally to receive letters.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry sit in a row at their usual spot on the Gryffindor table.

"Any letters?" Ron asked, slurping up waffles slopped with dark syrup.

"Eww… Ron, close your mouth." Hermione remarked in disgust. Harry shook his head in his response to Ron's question. Ron nodded slowly, as if he were going back to sleep.

Hermione sighed at them, and asked, "Did you guys study?"

"For what?" asked Harry and Ron simultaneously.

"Potions!? Didn't you guys remember?" Hermione exclaimed, alarmed.

But Harry and Ron didn't get a chance to answer as Lavender tapped on Harry's shoulder to talk. Hermione tried to get their attention back, but they ignored her. She slumped in her seat and chewed a biscuit, swiveling around to look at the other tables.

Ravenclaw's students were all eating up their Potions books. Obviously they knew how to study, very unlike some people she knew.

Hufflepuff were all eating together, talking over their food enthusiastically.

Slytherin's students were all laughing and discussing Quidditch quite intensely. All except one.

Draco Malfoy was sitting rigidly in his chair, looking straight ahead with wide, numb eyes. His skin seemed tighter and paler than before, and seemed to not notice that the world was there. He allowed himself to get nudged around by his friends and joked on by, but he just sat still.

 _Odd._ Hermione wondered why he was acting so differently than his _arrogant, obnoxious, greedy, selfish, self-centered, cruel…_

"Hermione!" Ron shouted into her ear, yanking her back to her own Gryffindor table. "Gosh, I must've called you like six times! We have to go to class now!"

With slightly shaking hands, she hurriedly clean herself up, got her books, and pushed her chair in to make up for looking at Draco Malfoy.

 _Draco Malfoy?_ Hermione scoffed at herself. _There's no one in the world that I'd care less about than Draco Malfoy._


	3. Chapter 3

_Time jump into suppertime_

It was suppertime at Hogwarts, and the Grand Hall was now lined with 4 lavish tables almost snapping under the weight of hundreds of plates of food. Again, the trio were all next to each other on the Gryffindor table.

"I didn't get it at all! It was so confusing! I've really flunked this time guys." Harry remarked, shaking his head in regret.

"I know. Snape is such a f-ing bad teacher, but for some reason, _Malfoy_ gets an A." spat Ron.

"Well don't say I didn't warn you! You should've studied when he announced the test's date." Hermione snapped back. She swatted each boy in the back of the head hard, and they each protested with a hurtful, "Hey!"

And so dinner continued on in that such matter. In a couple moments, they are joined by some of Harry's and Ron's other friends, who have appeared to have witnessed a Slytherin boy of their age trip on his own robe and fall into another girl's chest.

Hermione sat in the midst of the process of telling the story, as Ron, Harry, and the boys exploded in sudden bursts of laughter.

"And he went straight into her chest-"

"And she during as red as a beet!"

"Then she slapped him, right in his ugly face!"

They erupted again. Harry elbowed her in the shoulder as he guffawed boisterously.

"Ugh! Harry!" she yelled. She slapped his back, hard enough to sting but soft enough to seem friendly, and went back to her pie.

He slowed his laughter long enough to look at her with shining eyes. "'Mione, dear, sorry, but you have to hear this. So this Slytherin guy…"

She stopped paying attention right there because she had already heard it and it was quite a childish thing to laugh at. She felt sympathy for the affected girl and confirmed she would do the exact same thing in that situation.

"Guys, guys…" They had grabbed the attention of another group from Hufflepuff and started the whole process of telling the story _again._

Ron banged the table this time as he laughed, spilled his goblet of pumpkin juice all over Hermione's front. No one even noticed.

"Ron!" she complained. She huffed and seethed in annoyance, as she pushed her chair back as she stood up. She patted her robes to feel for her wand to clean herself up, but there was none of the tell-tale lump of a cylinder that indicated its presence.

Then she remembered it was in her room. She had left it there in a hurry to get to dinner on time. She stormed all the way through the maze of laughing kids and chairs and made it towards the exit of the Great Hall.

As she stomped down the empty, stone corridors of Hogwarts, she muttered under her breath about how immature her friends could get. _Those dimwits, they didn't even apologize! Ugh!_

She was getting pretty close to the Head girl's dorms when she heard a low lurching sob of a person who was badly hurt but didn't want to show it. It echoed along the curved ceiling of the hall, and it grew louder as she walked.

When she turned the corner, she saw boy around her age against the wall, knees against his chest and arms wrapped around himself. His face was hidden because he had his forehead resting on top of his knees. His white-blond hair was tousled and glinting in the dull setting light.

Hermione covered her mouth in shock as she retracted her head from the corner. Although her moral obligations struggled against it, she did _not_ want to get involved with him, especially about _feelings._ She hated dealing with feelings.

She hurried back in the other direction as quietly as she could, but the boy spoke.

"Wait." He said. His voice was cracking and throaty. But beneath that, there was an overall emotion of apathy, hurt, and fragility.

Hermione spun slowly around, cringing at whose face it might be.

Standing there was her sworn enemy, Draco Malfoy.

AN: Hello Readers

This is my first fanfic ever and I am very passionate about the Harry Potter Series

I hope you like this fanfiction and this story will continue on because I have a lot of ideas!


	4. Chapter 4

Draco Malfoy stood there, shoulders tense, hands curled into fists. His eyes were red from crying, his eyelashes glistening. His expression was wild, passionate from brokenness and… _anger?_ He breathed furiously as he looked at her, and gulped visibly.

Meanwhile Hermione was frozen in terror and confusion, her mouth still open in shock. _What is Malfoy doing?! Why is he here?_

He started towards her, his strides unfocused and wide. Hermione slipped her hand into her robe pocket by instinct, searching for her wand. When her hand reached nothing but the silken cloth of her clothes, she silently cursed herself for her carelessness and forgetfulness.

"Malfoy…" Hermione growled at him, as he kept going towards her.

She started to back away, attempting to run while still looking back, but the boy quickly advanced upon her.

"Draco Malfoy, if you dare even put a finger on me, I will seriously hex you." she warned in an attempted defiant voice, but she was obviously scared as her voice shook.

He backed her up against a cold, roughly-hewn rock wall, and bent down so close to Hermione's face that she could feel his warm, shallow breaths against her cheek.

Suddenly, Draco cupped Hermione's face in his rough hands and pulled it towards his own. Their lips collided forcefully, Draco desperately kissing her as if she were his life line.

Hermione squealed in surprise, she obviously thought he was going to do something else. She tried to scream and squirmed, pushed and hit his chest. She struggled to get his hands of her face as she felt his lips move against her own.

Finally she decided it was time for the worst and that she had most clearly warned him. She patted around Draco's robe, feeling for his wand. He thought she was responding to his kiss and moaned passionately.

Hermione shuddered in disgust and anger as she finally found the wand. Aiming the wand straight at Draco's shoulder, she muttered a hex under her breath.

Draco winced hard and stumbled back. A small burn, much like a cigarette burn, and seared into his robes. He looked at it is pain and surprise, and looked back at Hermione as if she at betrayed him.

"Ohhh…" he groaned as he rubbed it. "Give me back my wand. I'm surprised it worked so well for a Mudblood like you."

Hermione was deeply insulted. She widened her eyes and stepped forward, braver than before because of her newly obtained weapon. "You just kiss-raped me, then you call me a Mudblood? You know there is plenty more from where that came from."

"Whatever." He snapped.

"Do you want your wand back or not?" Hermione struggled to get the words out through her tightly gritted teeth. Draco shrugged and rolled his eyes when he thought she wasn't looking.

She have him a hard stare and turned on her heel. Two sets of footsteps echoed outside to the cooling night air and the deep navy sky. Hermione knew a secret bench in between the castle's ivy covered walls and she decided to go there. She knew Draco would follow her because he still needed his wand.

As they walked, Hermione worked furiously to figure what had just happened. She wondered why he would kiss her, why he was crying but angry at the same time. Just the thought made her nauseous.

Reaching the bench, Hermione sat down pressed on one side of it and looked away. The boards creaked under the weight of another person sitting down on the other side.

Much quieter now, the person asked tentatively, "Can I have my wand back now?"

"No." Hermione gave him the straight and truthful answer. She swept the wand over herself to clean up the now cold pumpkin juice on her front. Looking over, she noticed that the orange had stained Draco's front over too, as he had pressed their bodies together during the kiss.

She almost vomited at the memory. She swept the wand over him too to clean it off.

She heard him scoff and say, "You know I could've done that too. That's _my_ wand, and _I_ should be the one who is doing this right now-"

Wanting to get to the point, Hermione asked him, "Why did you kiss me?"


	5. Chapter 5

_"Why did you kiss me?"_

Draco looked down, unable to answer. He wondered if he should tell her the whole truth, or if he should stand up and leave, acting like this never happened, but he needed his wand. Or he could lie. Lying was a good option.

Before he could concoct a seamless, believable fake story, Hermione asked a different question. "What happened?"

 _What happened?_

Draco's last 12 hours had been unbelievably eventful and emotional; he couldn't even keep up.

Beautiful Astoria… He missed her so much. He wanted to see her, hold her, love her at least one more time. But she even didn't make it to seeing her last name change to his.

Her beautiful green eyes and cheerful smile, how could he possibly live without her?

Thinking these woeful thoughts, tears began to slide down his cheeks and drop onto his lap, leaving dark spots on his cloak where they landed. He felt so alone in this world, where no one could sympathize with him, knew what he was going through.

Draco flinched as a arm slid around him, urging his head to lean on its shoulder, to accept its warm embrace and cry.

Under normal circumstances, Hermione would recoil at the touch of this boy in her arms. But watching him cry over something unseen but painful enough to break his spirit, it was heartbreaking to leave someone like that to fend for themselves.

"Her name was _Astoria…"_ his wobbly voice began to tell, but it broke off into a lurching sob as he heard her name roll off his tongue. He wanted to call her name and hear her answer again.

"No, no… You don't have to tell me." Hermione said, her voice as calming as a lullaby.

"I _need_ to tell someone. Even you'll do." Hermione rubbed his back in slow circles as he hiccupped. "Her name was Astoria Greengrass. I loved her so much, _so much_ that she was going to marry me.

"Her parents said she was pureblood, so that she could be married to me and my family would accept her, because she loved me. And I loved her.

"But when my parents found out that she was actually a Muggle-born and that her parents had lied, my mother sent out a henchman and ordered to him that she and her family shall be destroyed." Draco wiped his eyes with the heels of his hands roughly and his expression became bitter and furious.

"She took her from me. My own mother _took her from me_." He stated heatedly. He looked forward with red eyes intensely, his fist clenched so tight his knuckles turned white.

"Mmm. Oh I'm so sorry." Hermione said at his shoulder.

He swiveled around at looked her dead serious in the eyes. "That's why you have to marry _me."_


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione coughed in shock. She sputtered some incoherent babble as she rushed to stand up and get away from Draco.

"What?" she nearly shouted. "I used to just really hate you, you know, but now you're freaking crazy!"

Draco stood up too. "My _mother_ didn't want me to marry Astoria 'cause she was Muggle-born. Now if I marry another Muggle-born quick enough, she won't be able to stop me. I will win over her, and show her that I can make my own decisions in _my own_ life. I will not marry a rich pureblood so that she can buy another house. I _am not_ her slave!" Hermione could almost picture him frothing at the mouth like a rapid dog. _He's really losing it this time,_ she thought.

The boy started to move closer to Hermione, hands reaching for her face as he tried to kiss her.

Hermione shoved his shoulders so he stumbled backwards. There was a painful sounding _crack_ as his back collided with the bench's back. Hermione turned around quickly, hair and cloak whipping into a fan, and started to walk back to the exit of this secret place.

On the way, she stopped, hurled the wand at Draco as hard as she could, and walked back. As she reached the wooden mossy door in the now moon lit night, Draco's voice echoed to her.

"Wait." His steely-grey eyes meet her hazel-brown ones. There was a long pause before he said, "Be mine, and I'll buy you and your family expensive clothes, a car, houses. Be my woman, and I'll show you the world. Marry me, and you'll be a _Malfoy."_ His Adam's apple bobbed after saying this, waiting for the girl's response.

Hermione stared back at him intensely, searching his eyes. Then she pressed her lips together in a straight line, shook her head slightly, and slipped back into the castle.

When Hermione's fellow bunkmates came back to their prefects dorm from dinner, they found her sprawled on her back on her bed, fiddling with her wand, eyes crossed eyed from watching it twirl.

"Let me guess, a boy?" Padma Patel asked suspiciously.

Hermione didn't answer, but just continued doing what she was doing before.

"Oh my god, it is!" another Hannah Abbott exclaimed excitedly. "Who?"

Hermione finally turned her face sideways to look at them and sat up. "No, there was no boy, it's nothing. Geez, you guys are already making assumptions without my saying anything even." She snapped.

Padma crinkled her forehead but said nothing. She motioned for the others to leave her alone.

When they all filed out of the room, Hermione flumped back into the mattress for two minutes before she got up to change out of her robes and into her pajamas. She turned off the light with her wand, got into the covers, and pretended to sleep.

Soon, she heard the door creak open and closed as the other female prefects went in. In the darkness, she thought about what Draco said. She shivered as she remembered his expression as he laid out his offer.

It would have been exceedingly romantic if the person saying it weren't Malfoy. Looking back in detestation, Hermione wondered what he was doing now. Sleeping? Doing the same thing as she? Thinking gross pervy thought?

She sighed heavily and turned over in the flannel sheets as she realized something. _He never said he loved me._

Was she sad? Did she have any emotion over this? Should she even be thinking about this right now?

In the safety and comfort of complete darkness and the steady rhythm of three other girls breathing in their sleep, Hermione slowly drifted away as she reflected on her thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

AN: Hello again, readers

I've really been enjoying writing this story and want to know what you guys think, so if you could kindly review this and send it to me, that would be wonderful!

So… Enjoy!

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Two days had passed since the 'incident' with Hermione and Draco was still waiting for her reply.

Whenever they passed in the halls or during events and meals, he caught her eye, but she always looked away. When he tried to talk with her, she always surrounded herself with those Gryffindor thugs. It was almost frustrating, not being able to have Hermione.

Draco was in the shower of the prefect's bathroom, standing under cold water. Leaning on the cold tiles of the wall, he closed his eyes and savored the unpleasant yet refreshing feeling of ice cold water on his body. He stayed there until his body was completely numb but awake, then reached out his hand to shut the water off. Sighing heavily, he shook out his hair and got a fluffy white towel to dry himself.

 _What did Hermione think about me? Is she thinking about my proposal?_ He thought as he rubbed his eyes. His hair was still damp, but he just put on his robes and headed out to breakfast.

When he reached the Great Hall, his eyes immediately searched for Hermione. He spopped her arguing with her fellow Gryffindors at her table. Her eyes were sharp and enthusiastic and her mouth and hands moved expressively. He remembered how Astoria had once looked like that as she laughed with him. She was the only one who could make him truly laugh.

Then he felt a surge of anger as he remembered what his own birth mother had done to his true love, and wanted to hurt her back.

Keeping his eyes on Hermione, he carefully sat at the Slytherin table with his friends and grabbed an apple. He felt a heavy weight on his lap. It was Pansy. She laced her arms around his neck as asked, "How are you doing, sleepyhead?"

She squinted her makeup plastered eyes and slightly opened her lip-glossed mouth. She thought she was sexy but Draco most definitely didn't think so. He uncomfortably looked away as she looked at him from his lap.

Draco finally spoke awkwardly, "I'm gonna go over to Blaise."

Pansy tilted her head and coolly said, "Kay. See ya."

Draco hated how she acted so slutty around him and how she always went all over him. She was so fake, so materialized. He put the apple down on the table, not hungry anymore.

Suddenly, a flurry of feathers descended upon them, bird squawking and human squealing filling the room. A handsome Great Horned owl landed on Draco's waiting forearm with a letter. He ripped open the letter, remembering that just two days ago, a similar day and similar looking letter had delivered a message that had changed his entire life.

It was from his mother. He could almost imagine that curt, careless voice of a woman who thought she was better than you.

 _My dearest son Draco,_

 _I hope you are doing well. Again I have the most sympathy for the loss of your friend, but I hope you will learn a lesson from this experience and get your life back together. I know that you understand what I mean._

 _Do well in school, don't hurt yourself too much. Remember, you are a proud Slytherin Malfoy, and you must behave and act like one, and surround yourself with similarly aspiring people. Make good decisions and remember that your mother has very high expectations for you._

 _-Mother_

His hands trembled as he laid down his letter, furious. Even as he grieved in complete darkness and apathy, his own mother had almost literally told him that she was glad Astoria was gone. He took a shaky breath as he tried to calm his emotions. _That woman means nothing to me. She cannot affect me, she cannot control me,_ he told himself. He closed his eyes tight and turned away from the letter that made him so angry. _I am weak. So weak that I could break down from the sight of that piece of paper._

Abruptly, he shot out with his wand, throwing every curse, hex, charm he knew at the paper. It needed to be destroyed, annihilated, gone from his life. The letter shredded to pieces, burned to ashes, flew up in the air, and was compressed all at the same time. When he was done, he looked around, standing, and he saw dozens of white faces looking up at him.

"What are you looking at? What is sooooo much better about you than me, so that you can alllll look at me like that? Huh?" Draco shouted, voice echoing through the tense air. In front of him was a pile of dust, the remains of his mother's letter. He was scared of a pile of dust. His spirit crumpled.

Emotionally and physically drained, he sat down in his chair, the regular sounds of happy Hogwarts life resuming.

Chairs rumbled and screeched around him as his friends scooted away from him. He could feel them staring. _At least I had someone with Astoria. Now I have absolutely no one._

He put his emotionally barriers up and searched the hall for Hermione again. She was still there, but now with a letter in her curious hands. She frowned as she struggled with the seal, but finally got the letter out.

Draco watched on, not realizing that he was the only one looking at her.

She unfolded it quickly, as Draco had so innocently done earlier, not at all seeing the imminent grief that was about to hit her. Her eyes moved left to right, left to right, left to right.

She turned as white as a paper, and her eyes widened. Draco felt a deep dread in his gut about what had been said on that letter.

Hermione gasped, but stopped midway. Her hands flew up to her throat as she gasped again, again, again. Something was definitely wrong. Her gaping mouth made strange choking noises as her knees gave out, her hands on her mouth, grasping for the table.

Her tablemates started to take notice, asking, "'Mione, what wrong?" "Hermione, are you ok?" "What happening?"

Draco watched in shock, and didn't realized what his feet were doing when he climbed over the table, the Hufflepuff table, the Ravenclaw table, received various degrees of swearing and yelling. He needed to get to her now.

He shouted as he avoided a platter of eggs, "Asthma! She's having an asthma attack!" When he got to where she was, there was a thick layer of curious students encasing her wheezing body. He pushed and shoved through the bodies until he found her, Ron and Harry kneeling over her.

Her face was so pale, her forehead beaded with sweat. She looked at him through blurry eyes and coughed severely. She wheezed out, in a barely comprehensible whisper, "The letter…" He understood what she wanted immediately. He took the letter and shoved it into his robe pocket.

Draco swooped down and scooped her up in his arms bridal style, receiving a chorus of accusations and protests from both Gryffindor and Slytherin. Her fingertips were turning blue as she gasped again and again.

When he got out of the Great Hall, he strode quickly, quickly, to find Madam Pomfrey. He didn't get far until he heard two sets of footsteps behind him.

"Go away, Potter and Weasley."

Ron replied fiercely, "You know we're her friends. _We_ should be the ones carrying her to the medical ward now."

This remark threw him over the edge as Draco roughly stopped and faced them. " _Shut up_! Just shut up! You know, I'm just trying to do something good for her for once and everyone's not letting me!"

Harry and Ron stood in shock, receiving this strange outburst. Slowly, Harry raised up his hands in surrender, and Ron followed.

"Okay." Harry said grudgingly. "Fine, we trust you that you'll take care of her."

Ron interjected, "But if you _dare_ lay a finger on our Hermione, I'll… I'll…"

Harry quietly nudged him, and they let their friend go in the arms of their enemy.


	8. Chapter 8

Hermione looked at the world around her through blurry vision. Her chest felt like it was being compressed, she couldn't breathe. But mostly, she felt emotional pain. Her parents were dead. When she had received the news, she was so shocked and in pain that it triggered an asthma attack.

Someone was carrying her. Her body was suspended in the air, her head lolling around against someone's chest. Two strong but gentle arms held her, one under her knees and one supporting her back. She wheezed again and again.

"Hang on, Granger, just a little bit more." The voice rumbled through the person's chest and sounded worried and strained. The colors changed around her, and soon she felt Madam Pomfrey's motherly presence over her.

"Quick, lay her down here." Hermione felt gravity pull her down onto a hard bed, and she tensed up and coughed harder. She heard Madam Pomfrey mutter some incantations, and soon her labored gasping ceased to a heavy breathing.

"There you go honey, your friend is safe now." The nurse's heels clicked away distantly as Hermione's vision focused on the boy next to the bed.

He looked sorrowfully at her as he passed her the letter from his pocket. Hermione paled and she pressed the letter to her heart and broke down. She sobbed uncontrollably and rocked as a fresh wave of realization and pain slammed into her.

She tried to remember her parents, their waving forms happy on the train station. They loved her. And they were now gone. Where were they now? Where? Why can't she see them anymore? How could they be dead when they were so alive the last time she saw them?

Hermione wanted to hug them one more time. She wondered where they had gone, and wanted to go find them and their comforting warmth and unconditional love. They would be there for her. They always are. But now, wherever Hermione searched, she would never, ever be able to find them.

She curled up into a ball to fill the empty space in her heart, and her tears poured onto her shirt. She clutched the letter and her hair and the sheets in grief, but Draco just stared at her feeling pity and shame from his same spot in the corner.

She looked at him from the bed, tears streaking her cheeks and water filling her red eyes. Her nose was red from crying, her skin was blotchy, hair messy. She looked like death himself.

Draco sighed in dread and sat next to her, the weight of the bed moving. She gasped in realization as she looked into his eyes.

"You did this." Draco looked away. "You did, didn't you?" Hermione inquired, the anger and blame growing in her expression.

"No. I didn't." Draco answered back, not bearing her false accusation.

"Then _who!"_ Hermione said in an unattractive screech.

"I think it may be my mother. Who killed your parents." He cringed as he said the words on his mind.

Hermione's face contracted and her teeth bared in complete fury. "And _you_ are her demon spawn!" she screamed at him. She threw herself at him, pounded his chest with her fist, repeatedly screeching, "How could you? How could you?"

After 5 minutes, Hermione had considerably weakened her blows and was growing exhausted. Draco reached up and grabbed her hands. She struggled a bit but gave up. "You know you could be next." He tried to reach her eyes, but she wouldn't look at him. "My mother would kill any Mudblood without a doubt."

She finally met his stormy grey eyes. "Then what should I do?" It sounded more like a sentence than a question.

Draco's voice grew dangerous and said, "Marry me. It will infuriate my mother and dishonor her. She deserves it already, doing this to us." After a pause, he admitted, "I hate her too. I want to get revenge."

They looked at each other, eyes showing desperation for something they both wanted badly: revenge.

Draco lowered his voice to a comforting tone. "Come to me. Just do as I say, and you'll be fine. Do what I tell you, and I can keep you safe."

Eye to eye, they both knew what they had to do with a rebellious defiance. Draco lowered his face to the girl's slowly and hesitatingly, and Hermione confirmed it by meeting his lips halfway there. They kiss not for love, but for hate and revenge. Their tears mixed together and their lips moved against each other in passion.


	9. Chapter 9

Hermione waited in dumbfounded silence. For what she didn't know. Just ten minutes ago, Draco had walked out of this room. She remembered exactly what he had told her to do.

" _Tomorrow, meet me at that bench where you stole my wand. There, we will discuss our marriage and plans. I will tell my mother by mail, but remember, sooner or later you will have to be introduced to her. You will move into the Manor as soon as we are wed, and we will fill out paperwork to change your last name._

 _Keep in mind, Hermione. There's no turning back. You have to keep your vows. You are a Malfoy now, and that's really important to me and my family."_

 _He started to turn away when she stopped him. "Is this a secret? Am I allowed to tell anyone?"_

 _"Everyone will find out eventually. No need in keeping it as a secret."_

Suddenly, Harry and Ron walked in. Hermione's thoughts were interrupted by Ron's blubbering voice, "Hermione! Hermione, are you okay? What happened, are you alright? Do you need help? I'll help you stand, come on. Madam Pomfrey said you were good to go, a little banged up though…Here's your homework. Merlin, you scared me half to death! Don't ever do that again, you dummy. Everyone was talking about you… Then that ass took you and yelled at us… Geez what a bipolar freak…"

His constant jabbering hurt Hermione's ears but his excessive concern warmed her heart.

"Oh, come here, you." She opened her arms for them, and they both hugged her tight. She teared up a little from her emotions from what had happened, emotions from Draco, and emotions for them. "I love you guys." Her voice cracked.

They backed away slightly and looked at each other, confirming without speech that she was definitely acting very strange.

Harry laughed nervously, "Heh, Madam Pomfrey must've used a little too strong stuff for our little 'Mione, right Ron?"

Hermione grinned. Normally she would've snapped back at them, but she was so grateful for their familiar presence and comfort after the loss of her parents.

But she need to tell them something very important. She motioned for them to sit down on the bed, and they obeyed.

"Harry, Ron, I need to tell you about this really important decision I made."

"Okay." Harry nodded.

Hermione took a deep breath, and blurted, "Draco and I are getting married."

Harry and Ron exploded in rough laughter, elbowing each other and guffawing. Ron gasped as he tried to breath in between laughter, "Okay, okay, we're sorry about whatever we did. Now stop joking around!"

She smiled sadly at their thinking, and they watched her. Harry laughed out, "See, Ron, I told you she was joking!"

"I'm not." She said quietly.

They laughed harder, until her expression grew serious. Harry asked tentatively, "You're not?"

She nodded. Harry spoke again, "You're actually getting married to our arch-enemy? And you're only 17!"

"Officially a full-grown witch now. And Draco can have a lot more in common with me than I thought."

Ron had been very quiet up until this point, until he asked, "Do you love him?"

Ron and Hermione had a special connection, were closer to each other than with Harry. They knew that they almost loved each other, but never grew upon it.

Hermione decisively said, "Yes."

Ron looked into her eyes for a long time, and muttered, "Okay." Hermione's heart almost broke at his reaction and wanted to reach out to him. But she remembered Draco's words, _There's no turning back. You are a Malfoy now._

Harry, sensing an awkward third-wheel position coming, said he would meet them at lunch and scuttled away quickly. Ron helped Hermione up and they walked out together.

He tried to hold her hand, but Hermione snatched it away and faced him. "Ron, you have to get this through now. I'm an engaged woman, and I'm Malfoy's woman."

"How?! When?! Why?! When did this even start? Why do you like that ferret?"

Hermione answered firmly as if she were training a dog, "I love him and he loves me. We are going to marry each other become husband and wife."

Ron's face crumpled at her words. "I thought we had this special connection… Didn't we? We even had… you know…"

Hermione remembered what Ron was talking about, when they lost their virginity to each other a year ago.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

 _Flashback_

Ron and Hermione laid flat on their backs in Ron's bed. They were both only in their underwear and had the covers up to their chins.

Ron had been teased by someone because he was still a virgin, and had suggested to Hermione that they lose their virginity, just to see what it felt like and so that no one could tease them anymore. Hermione agreed for the same reasons.

So there they were, awkwardly in Ron's bed, on opposite sides and not touching each other.

"Soooo… Do you even know what sex is, Ron?" Hermione said, finally talking to him.

Ron stumbled through his thoughts, "It what people do… and talk about?"

"You're gross, Ron." Hermione promptly stated. "It's what people do to have babies, and what girlfriends and boyfriends do because it feels good."

"Okay, soooo" Ron said, unaffected. Hermione blushed in anger and embarrassment. She rolled over to him and kissed him on the lips hard. "Hermione!" he gasped, but kissed her back.

His white cheeks grew almost as red as his hair as she tangled her fingers in it. "Hermione…" he whispered, his breath hot.

Hermione asked embarrassed, "Are you feeling tight, like in your underwear?"

"Well, maybe I grew an inch or two since I bought them, but otherwise, they're pretty fine. Why?" Hermione groaned at his naivety, and kissed him harder.

She whispered at him to take her bra off, but had to repeat it several times for him to hear her. He reached behind her, blushing, and struggled with the hooks clumsily. Hermione sighed in exasperation, and right there and then, she gave him a how-to on how to take a girl's bra off. He blushed harder when she asked him to do it again.

When he saw her, he moaned and kissed her neck. He hurriedly whispered in her ear, "Hermione, I feel like I should be doing something but I don't know what or how. What do I do?" Instead of speaking, Hermione guided Ron's hands to her breasts and continued to moan.

Ron's clumsy hands moved on her, and Hermione felt something hard on her legs.

She reached down to touch it, and Ron gasped loudly, "Hermione! Stop that!"

"No, no, this is what happens." Hermione hushed him. She took off his boxers and slid off her own underpants, and soon they were both naked. Ron kept expressively gasping and moaning uncontrollably, his hands down her back, on her face, caressing her neck. They were on their sides, facing each other. She felt her friend's penis rub up against her as Ron kept grinding it against her leg.

Hermione wrapped one leg around Ron's thin waist and told him, "Now put it in, slowly."

"What? Where?" Hermione wondered why she was losing her virginity with another virgin, yet even Ron, and she just grabbed him and guided it to her vagina. "Slowly. Push it in slowly."

Ron did as she asked, and when he got all the way in, he howled in pleasure.

Meanwhile, Hermione was very tense in pain. "Ron, if you dare move an inch, I swear I will rip out all of the hair on your body and weave it into Chihuahua clothes."

Ron whined impatiently, "But it feels so _good_. I need to move."

"Just stay!" Hermione exploded. He stayed patiently.

When she felt comfortable with him inside her, she nodded. He started to move in and out, in and out. He was moaning, his face crunched up and his freckled, skinny chest heaved with his panting. Hermione felt good too, she wrapped her arms around him and moaned more and more. It felt good to be connected physically with her best friend as he moved inside her.

Ron's thrusting began to become wild and unsteady, and his voice cracked and became strained. "Ron, soon you'll cum, which is the part that makes me pregnant, so you have to…"

Ron screamed and grunted, and Hermione felt his penis twitch inside her and something warm and gooey shoot up inside her. "Ron!" She scrambled to get off of him, and when she got off, his penis was still shooting ribbons of white semen out of the tip. Ron gripped the sheets tight until it slowed to a stop. "Ron!" Hermione exclaimed again in horror as she imagined little babies with red hair and her brown eyes.

When he realized that he had accidently shot his seed up her, his eyes widened. "Are you pregnant? Can you feel it?"

Hermione struggled not to laugh at his cuteness in this serious situation. They promised to keep this a secret if she wasn't really pregnant.

Obviously, Ron had not fathered one of Hermione's children, as she currently does not have any.


	10. Chapter 10

_Later that day_

Hermione, Harry, and Ron sat dully at the dinner table in the Great Hall. Nobody had an appetite, and they poked their roast duck around on their plates. Harry and Ron didn't support the marriage, but promised to stand by Hermione no matter what. She was their friend, and they were going to protect her.

Hermione wasn't feeling so good. Every time she looked at their faces or even opened her mouth, she felt like crying or barfing. She had learned that her parents were dead, had an asthma attack, and had gotten engaged on that same day. She looked over her shoulder and spotted Malfoy's shiny blond hair and felt very very cold and empty.

Then, she saw another very similar head of blond hair, but longer and silkier. She was at the doors of the Great Hall, in dark sunglasses, white satin gloves, and tan fur coat. Her lip-sticked mouth was arranged in a distasteful scowl, and she held herself in a poised, dignified way. Draco's mother.

She shot a look at her unknowing son, who was also looking down, pushing food around his plate. Then she looked around and spotted Hermione. Hermione couldn't tell whether she was looking at her because of the sunglasses shielding her face, but then the woman lowered them and looked directly at Hermione. Without motion or speaking, she somehow got the message across that she wanted Hermione to come to her.

She turned quickly and clacked away in her expensive heels. Hermione was the only one who noticed the presence of Draco's mother.

She clumsily got up, and told her friends, "I'm gonna use the bathroom, guys. Be back soon."

They nodded unemotionally, and went back to their food. Hermione struggled to get out from in between the tables, but finally made it to the doors. As she reached them, she saw a glimpse of Draco's mother turn the corner at the end of the corridor. She quickened her pace to catch up to her. Finally she stopped, and Hermione stopped walking when she was a safe distance away from her, but close enough to talk.

Mrs. Malfoy curtly took off her sunglasses and put them in her black leather bag, which hung delicately at her elbow. "So… you've decided to seduce my son and convince him to marry you." She spoke in a lazy but dangerous drawl, so much like her son.

Mrs. Malfoy stepped closer. "What I wonder is, how have you done it? Such a magical feat seeing your appearance and background."

She looked away as if she were remembering a bad memory. "Draco did this before…And he isn't even grateful that I saved him from that _filthy_ so-called girl-friend he made.

"Marriage, Miss Granger, is taken very seriously in our family. And how can I let my son marry a girl because of this hormone-induced thing called _love?_ A girl who is about to be wed into our family must have a proper family, background, and legacy in the magical world. Which _you_ , Miss Granger, don't have at all."

She looked at Hermione and raised her eyebrows into an innocent, _"Oh I'm so sorry, I totally had nothing to do with this"_ expression. _I hate you. I hate you so much._ Hermione thought in her mind. She gritted her teeth as her face heated up in anger.

"I know you know what I mean." She purred as she stalked closer.

Hermione almost missed it, it happened so fast. A bright flash of green collided explosively with a blinding bullet of red. Sparks flew everywhere and there was a startled shout.

Hermione stood in stunned silence. Narcissa Malfoy had her wand pointed at her, and Draco was at the end of the hall, his wand out also. Mrs. Malfoy had attempted to kill her and her son had deflected it. He strode over quickly and pulled Hermione protectively behind him. "Mother!" Draco called, scared but angry. "How could you do this?! She is my wife-to-be and you almost killed her!"

"Well how can you even call her your friend? She is a _muggle-born,_ and she doesn't have a proper enough background to even deserve to be our servant!"

Draco grew furious at this remark at screamed at her, "Mother! You cannot control me! I can make my own choices! I will marry her and that is that! You can't change it and I will never let you ruin this!"

She puffed up in an uncharacteristic outburst. "Draco Malfoy! You _will not_ marry that girl! You will end our family tree! You are our next in our line, and how can you produce a Malfoy heir if you marry a Muggle? You _will not_ marry her!"

Meanwhile, Hermione was watching back and forth as if she were at a tennis match. It was now Draco's turn to strike back. But instead, his face went into a creepy and crazy smile as she reached for Hermione's arm. He was triumphant; he had the upper hand. He had made his mother angry. "You'll see what I can do, mother. Soon, this girl will be your daughter and the mother of your heirs, and there is nothing you can do then."

And with that, he strode away, Hermione in tow.


	11. Chapter 11

_One week later_

By now, everyone in Hogwarts knew about Hermione and Draco's engagement, even the professors. They shuffled carefully around them, eying them and whispering behind their backs when they thought they weren't looking.

There were some various ways of reaction among the Hogwarts students. Both Gryffindor and Slytherin were furious and betrayed by them, and some girls were jealous or disappointed because Draco was taken. But there was no support or happiness from anyone, even Hermione's and Draco's closest friends. They were alone.

There had been no drama, emotion, or recognition in public between the two of them since Draco's mother had attempted to kill Hermione. They avoided each other greatly, and never kissed or held hands. When they had to talk, they did it in an awkward and formal way and never discussed their marriage.

Draco and Hermione had already met on that bench and planned their marriage. They would be wed on the afternoon of the last day of school, no matter what would happen. Neither was allowed to back out.

But on this spring day, Draco pulled Hermione aside by her elbow and leaned forward to whisper hurriedly in her ear, "Mother wants you to come to the manor. She wants to talk to the both of us."

They exchanged frightened looks as Hermione received the news. "What?"

"Don't worry, I'll stay with you the entire time. We have to go this weekend or she'll never leave us in peace, I swear."

Hermione gave him a quick nod, their gaze lingering as they confirmed it, and they headed opposite ways for their classes. She headed off towards Potions as she received another round of whispers and stares.

Suddenly, she felt hands quickly push her back and a shouted, "Boo!"

"Ron!" she turned around to look at their faces. "Harry!" They smiled, but there was a slight look of sadness behind their eyes.

Ron asked her, "What are you doing this weekend? Please tell me you're not just going to study when it's going to be our last weekend together here."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "And why do you ask?"

Harry gave her an exasperated look. "So we can do something fun together? I dunno, do you want to get butterbeer or something?"

"Well…" Hermione couldn't bear to see what they would look like if she told them the truth. But she told them anyway. "I'm going to be introduced to Malfoy's parents as his finance."

They gave her shocked and betrayed looks. She explained quickly, "I know, I'm sorry, but this has to happen. This is happening, like, for real."

They still looked hurt. She looked back at them pleadingly. "I'm sorry! Don't be mad, please? Now I have to go to class… See you soon."

 _flash forward_

Hermione was nervous. _Dress nicely, and do something about your hair too. Dress like you're rich and have confidence. Pretend if you have to._ Draco had told her.

She looked in the mirror and saw a young woman in a black blouse, black and white skirt, and short black heels. Her lips were a small, thin streak of dark red and her hair gave down in a barely contained wave. Her skin was white, and her fingers fiddled with the small gold necklace that rested on her neck. _Was she okay? Was this good enough?_

She grabbed a silver clutch and stepped out, trying to look dignified although she felt like a little girl playing dress-up. After a couple minutes of waiting, Draco apparated next to her. His blond hair was sleeked back, and his skin was pale. He wore a dark green cloak over a soft white sweater and gray trousers, showing off his slight, long body. His pointed, oval face was emotionless but tense. He didn't look at her.

Finally, he looked down to her and offered her his elbow. She took it, and after a moment's hesitation, they disappeared together.


	12. Chapter 12

Hermione gasped in amazement as Draco smiled at his childhood home. It was the Malfoy Manor. It was a handsome, magnificent mansion built with grey stone and many windows. Some carefully trimmed green hedges were around it, and evergreen trees grew at the edge of the property. A glistening lake was to the west of the house, and the sky was a merry blue. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Draco's face was bright and excited; Hermione never seen him like this before. "Come on." Draco said. "I'll show you around, there's so much I have to show you."

Hermione grinned silently as Draco continued his uncharacteristic chatter while they walked. "There's a group of centaurs that live in the forest, but don't worry, they're friendly. Oh! And the field behind the manor makes an excellent Quidditch playing field; father put up some hoops and everything… We have 7 bedrooms, not including the elves and servants' headquarters; I'm sure mother will let you stay in one." He paused and stopped smiling as they reached the huge front double doors.

He frowned. "Mother will be right behind these doors, I'm sure of it. Let's go a different way so that we won't have to see her." Hermione nodded in agreement. He motioned for her to follow her. It was as if they were young children again, unburdened with secrets, love, sadness, and stress.

Draco trotted until they were at the side of the mansion, smiling secretively. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

"Okay." Draco pushed back some hedges and revealed a small path going right along the wall. Hermione asked, "How do you know about this?"

"I grew up here, of course I know everything about this place. I used this path for the exact same reason as now."

They crept along as quietly as they could, giggling to themselves as they went. Hermione saw another side of Draco that appeared when he was at a familiar place where there was no one needed to be impressed. He was himself. Hermione almost liked him this way. In another world, at another time, Hermione believed they could be good friends.

They reached a low hatch on the wall. It was about three feet tall. "This was made in the medieval times for our servant elves to go through so they could wait on us more quickly if we were outside. But it went out of use a long time ago. I found it when I was eight." Hermione laughed and bent down to take off her heels. Draco took them and hooked them on his fingers and gestured for her to go. "It's not long, just keep going until you reach the other door, then open it and go through it."

Hermione went down on her hands and knees and crawled in. It was dark and musty inside, the floors were stone. She heard Draco get in and close the door. She giggled as she imagined an eight-year-old Draco go through this secret door, then wondered how he looked now, all crouched up. He was a good six feet tall.

Draco's voice echoed through the small tunnel. "You should reach it now…" Hermione hit the door with her face and she groaned. "Oww.." Draco laughed behind her, and she punched his shoulder playfully.

She carefully opened the door, and there was light. It was the elves' kitchen. The door had led to right next to the pantry. Small figures with pointed ears looked in confusion at her as she straightened and tried to fix her hair. Then Draco appeared next to her, now the master of this house, the Malfoy heir. He wore a dignified expression and put his chin up. He straightened his back and widened his broad shoulders.

The elves visibly cowered and looked down. "Master… To what services shall we serve you with?"

"This is Miss Granger, my fiancé. She is now your master also. I wish to see mother. Tell her to come down to the garden parlor." He ordered them. They bowed and scuttled away.

Hermione gave a disgusted look at how he ordered them around. "Do you have to use elves like that? They are treated lower than dogs!"

He shrugged. "I tried to make them leave, I really tried. But they absolutely refuse."

"But still…" Draco handed her her shoes and walked away. Hermione struggled to put them on quickly and followed him.

 _AN: REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW_

 _please comment and tell me what you guys think about this story so far_

 _It would be very nice and helpful to know your opinion_


	13. Chapter 13

The garden parlor was a pretty room. It was right by the garden and natural white sunlight lit up the creamy walls. Dark blue chairs were settled around a small dark wood table. A set of flowery teacups were arranged in front of the people sitting at the table.

Draco's mother sat across from Draco and Hermione. She was in a semi-formal blue dress and pearls. She had her arms and legs crossed as she stared at them, making them uncomfortable.

Hermione awkwardly brought her hands up to cup her teacup and looked at the settling tea leaves at the bottom. Draco looked at his hands, which were on his crossed legs. Mrs. Malfoy leaned forward and addressed them.

"So." She said it sharply, her eyebrows lifting up. "I'm assuming you are going to marry with or without my consent."

They didn't move. "But you won't be able to marry in peace." Her expression was amused, so different from what she was suggesting. "You know what I am capable of. And I will do the worst of my abilities to you if you decide to go on with this marriage."

Mrs. Malfoy stood up abruptly. "I can sabotage your wedding, I can murder that _mudblood_ in her sleep, and I can kill your first child." Hermione glared at her.

Draco slammed his cup down on the table and rose from his seat defiantly. "Then I will protect her. I will protect my family that I am building. I am willing move away from here and do anything to prevent you from hurting us."

Her smirk disappeared. Draco continued. "You cannot do anything, you cannot affect me. I am not yours, Mother, I am my own person. I know you need me, and you are desperate to keep me here. I am the heir to this house, and you need me to continue the Malfoy family tree because I am your only son. But I am definitely willing to cut ties if this means harm to my _fiancé_ Hermione Granger."

His mother interjected. "I am not yet done, young man. Listen, I have an offer to give you." Hermione listened attentively as Draco stopped talking to hear what she was saying. She lowered her voice and head as she gave in to them. "I will allow your marriage on one condition."

Draco and Hermione looked at her as she pronunciated her words slowly. "You must produce for me an heir to the Malfoy family in one year."

She smiled at their expressions. "I know you don't love each other. I am not stupid. I know you both are going to marry because you want to hurt me back. But I will not let you stand in my way. Produce an heir or enjoy a horrible marriage. I'll let you sleep on it."

Draco's mother disapparated without a sound and suddenly the room seemed larger. The boy and girl exchanged horrified looks. Hermione let out a strangled, "No!" and Draco fell back in his chair and took his face with his hands.

Hermione looked sideways at him with difficulty. She now saw him in a different light, as the father of her future children. "What are we going to do? Are we really going to take it?" Her expression was dark.

Draco straightened and faced her with bleary eyes. "Well, what were you expecting anyways? I was going to marry you. We were going to lead our lives as husband and wife, what did you think? We were not going to have kids?"

"No! Of course I don't want to have kids with you. I hate you!" she stated it as if it were a fact, and Draco took it without flinching. "I didn't think this through enough." She hugged her knees, shaking her head.

"You don't want to have kids?" Draco softly asked after a pause.

"I don't know, I always wanted to have a career before kids, and I never really liked them. And besides, I figured I'd cross that road when I got to it, with Ron, but look at me now, at 17 and marrying _you."_

Draco seemed a bit saddened at this, and Hermione noticed. She asked him in a less sharp tone, "What about you? Do you want kids?" She was genuinely curious.

He looked at his hands for a long time, then nodded as he said. "I've always loved kids. I still am one, you know." She smiled at what he said. He continued on dreamily. "I want to be a good father, and I always kind of imagined a daughter or son who looked like me and loved me, you know. I imagined that I would love them so much, and I would play with them all the time." Hermione gently nodded at this sweet statement of Draco's.

She never thought he would like kids, seeing that he was so rough and insensitive a lot. He smiled back at her, this time not playfully or mockingly, but gently and honestly, as if they were sharing something nice together.

She almost wanted to hug him just then, his sharp facial features softened by the gentle lighting and his own smile.

But something held her back, and she frowned slightly. For years, she knew this boy as a rude, cruel, annoying, and infuriating person. She wondered if she was willing to fall for him after all he said and did to her. She wondered why he was so likable here, and if it were a trick.

But as Hermione looked at this gentle side of him, she saw a 17 year old boy, almost glowing gold with happy thoughts, who deserved a chance at a happy life just like any other young wizard.

She looked into his eyes and grinned again, both confirming without words what they were going to do.


	14. Chapter 14

Hermione dragged her trunk and bags down the stairs from her prefects' dorm and apparated herself to the Gryffindor common room. She, Harry, and Ron had agreed to meet there before they left Hogwarts.

Ron and Harry were both sitting among their trunks and chatting quietly to fellow 7th year Gryffindors who was also having their last day of school.

"Hey." "Hey." There was a quiet exchange of greetings as they found each other.

"Ready?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded.

"Wait…" Ron said. "Since you're marrying Malfoy today, where are you going to take your luggage? Your parents' place?"

Hermione felt a little hurt at this but didn't blame them. She still hadn't told them what happened to her parents since they were already messed up over her marriage. "I'm apparating it to the Malfoy Manor."

They made surly expressions and looked at each other. Harry said, "Are you sure you don't want us to be there? Are you really marrying him, for sure?"

"Yes, and yes. I am getting married, guys, and you need to learn to accept that."

They sighed heavily and sat back down on their trunks. After waiting for nothing, Hermione spoke up again. "We should go. There's nothing to wait for."

They obediantly said, "Okay." They stood up and apparated their luggage away. They hugged and said good bye and arranged to see each other soon.

They counted to three and closed their eyes so that they can apparate together. Ron was going to the Burrow, Harry was going with him until he got his own place, and Hermione was going to the Manor. "1…2…3!" Hermione opened her eyes and watched them disappear, but didn't disapparate.

She had watched them leave so faithfully together, closing their eyes and believing so faithfully that she was leaving at the same time, but she hadn't done so. She felt a bit guilty, but just walked away to a nearby changing room.

Out of her small pouch, she summoned a dress. Her wedding dress. It was a sleeveless white lace dress, sheer at the shoulders but an opaque creamy white at the rest. It ended at her knees and hugged her figure snuggly. Putting it quickly on, she arranged her hair in a modest up-do and put on some heels.

As she struggled with the buttons on her dress, she felt some hot tears roll down her face. There was no one around, no one to help her. Her parents and best friends were supposed to be there and help and support her at her own wedding, but here she was alone, in a lonely room at Hogwarts struggling with the buttons of her own wedding dress. More tears dropped on her dress, and she watched them spot her dress apathetically.

Wiping her tears hurriedly, she straightened and looked at her pale face with big, wet eyes in the mirror. She didn't even put on any makeup. She swiped her nose with sudden defiance and stormed out, her old clothes abandoned on the floor.

When she came out, Draco was standing there. He wore a dark blue sport coat and grey trousers over a white shirt and thin black tie. He looked elegant and distinguished as he stood as if he were the king. He looked at her with grey eyes and asked, "Ready?" He sounded so much like Harry, but he wasn't concerned about her, he was concerned if she had finished dressing. She choked down a sob as she went over to apparate with him. He unwilling grabbed her bare arm with cold, strong hands and apparated to their marriage site.

He had taken them a little away from a crumbling abandoned church. The surroundings were so colorful, Hermione guessed they were in Ireland. The grass was an emerald green on the endless rolling hills and the sky was a deep blue. Small trees dotted the landscape, and above, a white version of them floated in the sky like a reflection.

There was a low, stone wall that was on either side of the church and didn't seem to stop until the horizon. Yellow flowers were scattered among the green.

They walked up to the church. It looked medieval, with its bell tower without a bell a powdery grey and its mossy stone walls punctured with holes of age. The wooden doors hung wide open and its stained glass windows were shattered. It seemed untouched for centuries, it seemed to be a secret.

They stepped in, the floorboards creaking. The benches were all rotted away or stolen, their absence was quite obvious. Stones and drying bits of grass and flowers littered the floor and an old candle chandelier, never lit in years, still hung from the ceiling. Draco took a bottle of red wine from a little pouch in his coat pocket and transfigured a nearby rock into a wedding chalice.

But was most unsettling was the bare stone altar at the front. It was still there, waiting for someone to use it, covered in moss at some places and worn down on the top. It seemed sad, abandoned, forgotten. Hermione wondered who used it, when it was used.

It was perfect for their marriage.

Draco used to wand and swept up all of the leaves on the ground and lit up the chandelier. He mended the windows and stood up the broken rotting piano in the corner. Although, physically, the church was fixed up, it still seemed forlorn and wistful. No one had been there in a long time.

Draco looked down at Hermione, and she up, and they locked eyes as they held hands and quietly made it up the aisle.

They stopped in front of the altar and faced each other. They stared at each other for a long time. Here they were, this odd but strangely perfect young couple, in a forgotten old church, getting married alone. There were no rings, family, priest, cake, flowers, or celebration. It was just them.

Draco started to speak, his voice strange in this quiet place. "Dearly Beloved, we are gathered here today, to join us in matrimony commended to be honorable among all."

Hermione continued for him softly and solemnly. "And therefore is not to be entered into lightly but reverently, passionately, lovingly and solemnly. Into this - these two persons present now come to be joined."

They looked at each other with wide eyes, and Draco asked Hermione. "Do you take me, Draco Malfoy, to be your loving husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part?"

"I do." Hermione looked at their intertwined hands as she asked him, "Do you take me, Hermione Granger, to be your loving wife, your friend, your faithful partner and your love from this day forward? To be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow?"

Draco said slowly as they completed their vows as if it were a death sentence, "I do." She looked up. The boy's eyes were solemn and unemotional, as if he were on autopilot.

He took the wine and poured a small amount of it into the golden cup and sipped a little bit. He offered it to her, and she took it in small hands. She pressed her lips to the spot were Draco drank from, and tipped the cup until she could taste the wine's bitterness. She placed it back on the altar carefully and turned back to her future husband.

Hermione whispered quickly, "We are now pronounced husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." He bit his lip and quickly pressed Hermione's knuckles to his pale lips.

Draco finished the wedding. "We are now presented as Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy."


	15. Chapter 15

They apparated back to the Manor and appeared out of thin air right inside the front doors. It was dark out.

Draco's mother was waiting there, arms crossed, bony hip jutted out, impatient foot tapping. She saw them apparate in front of her, Hermione in her wedding dress and Draco in his wedding suit. She puffed up furiously, her cheeks reddening and her mouth opening. "Draco Malfoy!" She growled. "How dare you! You have disgraced me! You have disgraced yourself! You have disgraced this _whole_ family by marrying this mudblood!" she screamed in desperation like an angry girl.

Draco scowled. "You said you'd leave us in peace if we keep our promise! We decided to take your offer, and now _you_ are the one who is not following your own word!"

"I thought you knew better! Don't you know what you've done? Your father will be so angry when he hears about this in Azkaban. You just cut off the pureblood heritage of the Malfoys that has been going on for centuries!"

"What if I don't care about that? What if I don't want to be a Malfoy? Look, you're the one breaking your own promise right now, Mother. If you are going to be like this, then maybe you won't have a son anymore after all," the son spat.

She screamed in rage and Hermione cowered uncomfortably. Draco's mother stomped over to Hermione's trunk, which was sitting right by the door and destroyed it with her wand. Bits of Hermione's clothes and belongings blew up in the air and the trunk was blasted apart. She shot her wand again at the stairs and burst them into flames. Draco just watched in quiet irritation and pity for her and she destroyed parts of her own house in fury.

She screamed again then looked at them with red eyes. "You may think this will turn out well for the two of you, but this is not over." She disapparated into nothingness.

Draco turned back to Hermione with his head lowered and softly muttered that they should go.

Hermione said, "My trunk…"

"I'll get new ones." Draco seemed very, very tired, and hollow. "Come on."

He led her up a set of handsome grand stairs up the second floor, then up another staircase to the third. A high ceiling hall led to some wooden double doors. "My room is on the second floor, but we will be sharing this room now." Draco said as he opened the door and let Hermione explore.

It was decorated all in various shades of greens and silvers. The walls were an evergreen shade and the curtains a dark grey. The bedsheets were the same color of bright moss and the persian carpet was the color of stormy skies. A low, rectangular king-sized bed stood on one side of the room, and a white vanity table for Hermione was at the opposite wall. Some drawers and a walk-in wardrobe were arranged around the bed and vanity table, and a personal bathroom was located near the door.

Hermione closed her eyes and sighed. She slowly walked to the vanity table and looked at her reflection. Dispassionately, she unhooked the simple pearl necklace from around her neck and put it down on the table with a light clacking sound. She slid her hand down her wrist and took her bracelets off, and proceeded to let her hair down, its tumbling brownish-blond waves falling down her shoulders.

Looking up, she saw Draco's face at her shoulder in the mirror, his tie now off. He looked into Hermione's reflections of her eyes on the looking glass. Their eyes were dark with the knowledge of what they had to do on their wedding night.

He put his hand on Hermione's shoulder and trained his eyes on the ground. Without looking at her, he slid his hand down to the top of the many buttons that kept her dress on. Hermione looked at her pearls on the table as he began to unbutton them. She felt the cold air on her back as his hands reached near the end of the buttons at the small of her back.

She bit her lip and tensed as she looked back up at the mirror, feeling him slide the dress from her shoulders and hearing it thump on the ground. She now only had her bra and underpants on. She felt so completely exposed to the boy she called her enemy, but was now her husband. He closed his eyes and kissed her ear as he lifted her up gently and walked over to the bed. Her shoes dangled off her feet and fell off.

She was laid on top of the blankets on her back carefully, and she looked at Draco, who was standing next to the bed. He was removing his jacket and unbuttoning his shirt with trembling hands. He would not look at her.

His abs, chest, and arms were now uncovered for her to see. They were lightly muscled and defined. Although they could've looked attractive to most girls, they were still thin and pale, like what a normal teenage boy would look like. Like a young boy's. This brought a reminder to Hermione that they were still children, young children, barely officially adults.

Hermione almost broke down in tears at this thought as he hesitatingly slid his pants and shoes off. He was scared too.

He laid down next to Hermione, and stayed there for a bit, taking shaky breaths.

Then, he flipped over, hovering over her, and kissed her shoulder hurriedly. His cold fingers struggled with her bra, which reminded her so much of Ron. She made no move to help him, but he eventually got it off. As soon as her breasts were freed, Draco moved down and sucked on one's nipple, taking the other in his hand. She tensed at his touch and pushed his hands away. "No, stop it, Draco."

He looked up at her, shadows underneath his eyes. "Don't you want at least some pleasure out of this?"

Hermione looked to the side, blinking out tears. "No. Don't. Just do it and get it over with."

He seemed a little hurt, but also a little relieved. He moved up her body, kissing her neck, just like how Astoria loved it. He felt her shiver severely underneath him as he breathed on her skin. She smelled like baby powder and water.

Draco reached down and slid her panties and his own boxers down, so they were both naked. Then, he kissed her square on the mouth, spread her legs, and slid himself inside her. She grew rigid and her hands gripped the sheets.

He began to move slowly within her, moaning as he went. He felt so much pleasure from her. He remembered how it was like with Astoria, and felt some guilt from what he was doing with another girl. He moved faster.

Hermione was not moving or making a sound. She felt intruded upon, disgusted, that _Draco Malfoy_ was inside of her most private parts. She saw him moan and gasp and close his eyes. She wondered if he had ever done this before. After all of those years of his torture towards her, he was now married to her and having sex with her. How ironic.

Draco thrusted up her body harder and harder, pressing her on top of the bed as his strength wore out. He panted against her neck as he felt it coming. Finally, he grunted loudly and thrusted up as Hermione felt a warmth fill her insides. His nails dug into her skin painfully as he finished.

His seeds now planted, Draco groaned in satisfaction and exhaustion and fell heavily beside Hermione, still inside her. He closed his eyes and fell asleep. Hermione noticed that he was not at all sweating, but Ron was so sweaty when he did it with her. _Strange,_ she thought. She adjusted their bodies so that he pulled out, and some of his cum came out. She felt absolutely disgusting.

She stood up to take a shower and wash every trace of him off her.


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione tiredly stepped out of the shower and dried her hair with her wand. Slipping on comfortable pajamas that she conjured and putting on a stray blue robe that she found in the bathroom, she shuffled out and saw Draco curled up on his side, sleeping like a baby on their bed. _Their bed._ Hermione felt a deep feeling of apprehension as she realized that this was happening, they were really married.

She glanced at the clock. It was eleven thirty. A stiff grey armchair sat in the corner, and Hermione decided to sleep there instead of next to Draco. She padded over on bare feet and struggled to get a comfortable position in it to sleep. Eventually, she used a charm to make it bigger and was able to stretch out her legs.

Draco's eyes were dark curved lines as they slept, and his arms were tucked close to his body protectively. His blond hair stuck out everywhere over his eyes and ears and his face was smushed against the pillow. He looked like a sleeping angel. Hermione looked over at him and resisted the urge to pull the covers up to his chin and kiss him good-night. He was so adorable.

Then, she rolled her eyes as she realized what she was thinking and settled in for an uncomfortable night's sleep.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXO

Hermione woke up with a start, flinching at the streaming sunlight and cold morning air. She groaned louder than she thought and sniffed her nose. She stretched her limbs and back and looked at the still naked Draco. He was still sleeping.

The clock announced it was eight in the morning. _Hmm…_ Hermione thought. _He's been sleeping for a full nine hours._ Outside, it was sunny and bright, the world was already awake. Hermione paced around the room, not knowing what to do. She put her hair up in a ponytail and washed her face. She considered waking up Draco, but she didn't want to touch his bare skin or see his eyes. Biting her lip, she hugged her abdomen tight to silence the grumbles of hunger from her empty stomach. She groaned again in annoyance.

Deciding she could not take it any longer, she gathered up her courage and walked out of the room in a pair of warm slippers. She would look for someone in the house and ask how to get to the kitchen. She prayed to God that it wouldn't be Narcissa Malfoy. She walked down the hall and found the stairs leading downstairs to the ground floor.

She wandered around some halls and rooms but got no where. Finally, a room seemed a bit familiar to her, and she recognized it as the garden parlor. She cringed at the bad memories that occurred here but at the same time felt relieved that she found a place she remembered.

She traced her steps back to the kitchen where Draco had brought her and finally found the door to it. She could practically taste the delicious and buttery smells that wafted out throughout the air. Now dizzy with hunger, the young witch pushed open the door and saw a bustling room filled with busy elves and cooking machines.

The scents of food nearly overwhelmed her as she spotted a tray of freshly baked breakfast biscuits on the counter. Her needy fingers floated towards it unconsciously, and soon Hermione had a rich, flaky baked good in her hands. She took a bite, and another, her senses filled with the delicious tastes of it.

Some elves stared at her strangely but let her eat. One elf even offered her tea. She accepted, and soon her belly was satisfied.

Then she remembered Malfoy sleeping upstairs and thought he may be hungry as well. She contemplated bringing one biscuit for him also. _How would he think of me? Would he take it? Would he appreciate it?_

Hermione convinced herself that she didn't care about what Malfoy thought. She wrapped one in a piece of white cotton and rhythmically swung it around as she made it slowly up to her room. It felt hot through the cloth so she switched hands periodically.

When she opened the door to her room cautiously, she found that her husband was half awake and sitting up in the bed. Immediately her hands hid the biscuit behind her back. He squinted at her and studied her for a second, then yawned widely while stretching his arms. The blanket fell off of him; thankfully he was now wearing a pair of pajama bottoms.

His grey eyes fully opened to look at her. One eyebrow arched. "You're wearing my robe? And my slippers?"

She shrugged and answered back, "And you left them on the floor? And didn't get me any clothes?"

He rolled his eyes and relaxed his bare shoulders as he looked out the window. "What are you hiding behind your back?"

Hermione silently cursed to herself and composed her face. "What do you mean?" The butter and oil started to seep through the cloth.

"You're hiding something behind your back." He turned back to her with an annoyed and exasperated expression.

She frowned at him, defeated, and looked down. "It's a biscuit." She blushed slightly. "For you."

He smirked and swung his legs off the bed. He advanced upon her slowly, making her nervous. Finally he was inches from her, his head right above her face, and she cowered. He smiled, amused at her reaction, and reached behind her to take the roll of bread from her bent, clammy fingers. "I'll take that, thank you very much."

He unwrapped it and looked in slight surprise at the crumbled and misshapen roll. He set it on a bedside table as he shot his wand at the bed and the blankets began to make themselves. Hermione wondered aloud, "Where are you going?"

He replied flatly, "To the bathroom." He strolled in and closed the door behind him. After a couple seconds, Hermione heard the water run. She sighed heavily and conjured another set of clothes for herself to put on. She struggled not to cry.

Finally, she decided to do something other than to cry and mope all day. She was going to explore the manor. For the second time that morning, she stepped out of the room into the unknown parts of the mansion.


	17. Chapter 17

_One week later…_

Hermione looked out of her bedroom window, arms crossed and expression surly. Draco was slipping on a grey blazer over an orange cardigan. "Malfoy?" Hermione asked bleakly without looking at him. "Where are you going?"

He straightened his collar while looking in the mirror. "It doesn't concern you."

"It does. You're my husband."

He scoffed and looked at her. "Does it really matter that much? You hate me. What are you going to do if I stay?" he demanded.

"It's just…" Hermione fought back hopeless tears.

Draco cocked his head and asked flatly, "Are you crying now?"

Hermione hugged herself and sat down on the bed as a sob escaped her mouth. Why did he have to be so mean to her?

Draco's face softened slightly and he bit his lip. He came over and sat on the other side of the bed, so they were facing opposite ways. His hands rubbed his knees awkwardly as he sat there. He heard her sniff softly to herself.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I know I've been a jerk recently but I can't really help it…"

Hermione bent over and sobbed again, her skinny back shaking. She rasped out, "Stop, just stop. I'm just trying to get used to it, but I just can't!"

Draco's hand reached out hesitantly to touch her shoulder, but then retracted his hand back. He felt a little bad about how his wife was feeling but didn't know what to do. Instead, he blurted, "Will you go out with me?"

Hermione spun around, her face red. "What?"

"Like, you know, a date." She stared at him. "I know we're already married and everything, but we've never gone on a date before." He looked away, his neck hot.

Suddenly, he heard a slight laugh. He looked back at her, and she was smiling. She saw his face and snorted in amusement. She asked again, "What?"

He turned mad and annoyed. "Are you deaf? Didn't you hear me?"

Hermione's eyes were shining. "No, it's just that… Oh my god, I can't believe this…" She shook her head as she looked down to smile.

Her good moods took over Draco's emotions as he also struggled to retain his serious face. He shot back, "Geez, stop having weird witch mood swings! Is that a yes or no?!"

Hermione looked at him, pretending to think about it, stretching the uncomfortable space of silence. "Fine." She said finally, as Draco rolled his eyes in relief. "I'll go. But you better not be a jerk to me anymore!" she added.

He smirked at her as he went to change his clothes. Hermione called after him. "Where are we going?"

He called back through the bathroom door, and she could hear him changing his clothes. "I was thinking we could have a picnic for lunch together, I know this really great oak tree nearby. Then we could go swimming at the lake while it's still nice out."

 _That's an okay idea,_ Hermione thought to herself. She changed into a light pink short-sleeved button down over black high-waisted shorts, with a swimming suit underneath. She put her wavy hair into a loose ponytail.

Draco emerged, wearing a pair of chino shorts with a loose blue tank top under an unbuttoned short-sleeved button down. They both strapped on their sandals and headed outside with a small basket laden with picnic foods. They would've looked like the perfect couple if it weren't the awkward wide distance they kept between them as they walked. It didn't look as if they were walking together, but just happened to be walking in the same direction.

They found the great oak tree, and Draco conjured a red mat on the grassy ground for them to sit on. He easily sprawled all over it comfortably, and looked at Hermione with his eyes raised. She rolled her eyes with a slight huff and sat with her legs crossed. She opened the basket and began to eat a sandwich. Draco took an apple and munched on it thoughtfully.

The food in the basket was endless; the elves had packed it nearly to its magical breadth. A half hour later, Draco and Hermione were stretched out on the mat, sleepy and their stomachs distended.

Draco sighed in content, then asked Hermione carefully, "What are you going to do for the rest of your life?"

Hermione sipped on some apple juice slowly. "I dunno."

"Come one. I know you have something. Tell me really."

Hermione looked at the white clouds on the blue sky and marveled at their color contrast. "I want to become a minister of justice at the Ministry of Magic."

Draco nodded at her answer. She turned her head at him. "What about you?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

Draco fiddled uncomfortably; he was not used to expressing his thoughts. "I want to become a Healer." He waited tensely, for her to judge him, for her to say that wasn't right, to say ask for an explanation.

But to his surprise, she accepted it with a thoughtful nod. After a couple minutes, Hermione asked another question, "Where have you been going to during the past few days? Be honest." She was half scared and half curious to hear his answer.

To her relief, his answer wasn't bad. "I was taking some classes to study Healing." He admitted.

Suddenly, Hermione realized something. "You skipped class today because of me."

"Sure you did."

"Now I feel really bad, Malfoy. You missed a class because I freaked out this morning."

Draco didn't say a word.

Hermione began to cry quietly, tears streaming into her hair. "I'm such a horrible person, Malfoy, even worse than you. I'm so selfish, I don't know what to do with myself anymore…"

Malfoy looked at her with wide eyes, startled at her sudden emotional reaction. She sniffed in her nose, and sat up. She rubbed her face tiredly and reached for her juice again.

Suddenly, she yelled a piercing scream; her juice was black with ants. She scrambled away from it. Draco's face crumpled in disgust. He got rid of them with his wand, but it was too late. Hermione was leaning against the tree, hurling her guts out. "Merlin!" Draco exclaimed. He jogged over to her as her knees gave out from underneath her.

He watched awkwardly over her as she wiped her mouth with her arm. She coughed and choked, hot tears ran down her face. Finally, she managed to gasp, "Gosh, I don't know what wrong with me! I've been acting so strange recently."

She looked up at him with red rimmed eyes and got up to her feet. She started to go back to their picnic, but Draco caught her elbow. "Wait." Hermione flinched at his sudden touch as demanded, "What?"

His eyes were wide and afraid. "Could it be that…"

Hermione caught on. Her mouth gaped open and her knees shook, and she had a loss for words. Draco hurriedly sat her down on the mat to check. "Do you know the incantation for it?"

She swallowed and looked down at her abdomen. "Scientia graviditate," she muttered. "If the wand turns red, then I'm not pregnant, it it's blue, then I am." Draco lifted up Hermione's shirt and placed his wand on it and quickly said under his breath, "Scientia Graviditate." They both watched it intently, until it glowed red. 


	18. Chapter 18

The tip of Draco's wand glowed a cherry red; he met Hermione's eyes worriedly to check her expression. She pulled her shirt down quickly and pulled up her knees to her chest. Her eyes flitted back an forth as they filled with tears.

"Granger…?" Draco asked cautiously. "Are you okay?"

She shook her head and laughed miserably. "I'm not a Granger anymore, remember?" She looked at him through watery eyes.

"Okay, I know. But are you okay?"

She watched her fingers fiddle nervously. "Yes. No. I don't know."

"I don't know either."

Hermione looked up at him. "I mean, I don't want to be pregnant with your child, but I don't _not_ want to be pregnant either. You know, cause we have to do _it_ again."

Draco said with a low, trembling voice. "I don't think I'm ready to be father yet. But we only have less than 3 months to get you pregnant."

Hermione agreed. "We are supposed to have children, but we are still children ourselves. We are young enough to be our child's brother and sister."

They sat together in frightened silence, not able to comprehend what they had gotten into. Suddenly, Hermione sat up and angrily shouted, "This is all your fault, Malfoy! You shouldn't have made that stupid deal with your mother. You should've asked me first. If it weren't for your stupid, incompetent _sperm,_ I would already be pregnant by now!"

He tensed up in aggravation and shouted back. "My sperm?! You think my sperm is the problem here? Obviously it's your fault you're so _infertile_ that you didn't get pregnant. My sperm is perfectly fine!"

"You know women are on a cycle! I can't control my fertility!"

"Well, I can't control my sperm!" They sat glaring at each other like angry little kids.

Abruptly, Hermione's face broke into an uncontrollable smile. She chuckled quietly and said, "We're fighting about your sperm!"

Draco, still pissed off, said, "Well, you're the one who started it. Don't laugh at me, look at yourself."

She shook her head and started to clean up their picnic. "Obviously, we need a break."

Quietly, Draco corrected, " _You_ need a break."

She gestured for him to take the picnic basket, but Draco rudely scoffed at her and said, "You seriously expect _me_ to carry that? You carry it."

Hermione gave him a dirty look at shouted back at him, "Fine! I'll carry it. When we have children, I really hope they don't have your bad manners."

Draco, offended, took the basket from her and said, "I don't have bad manners! See, now I'm carrying the basket _for_ you. I hope our children don't have your conceited and pushy way of treating people."

And they continued to quarrel like that until they finally reached the lake. They reached a small, wooden dock on the lake and they walked along it until the got to the edge over the shimmering lake in the hot afternoon. They sat down.

"I hope they don't have your bushy hair." Draco remarked.

"I wish they don't have your ratty scowl." Hermione shot back.

"I wish they don't get your too big elephant ears."

"I wish they don't get your greasy blond hair."

"I wish…" Draco looked at Hermione, running out of flaws of her to say. He looked down at their bare feet. "Merlin! What are those?"

"What are what?" Hermione looked at where he was staring at.

"Your feet!" They were very long and very narrow. Their long white toes were curved slightly. Draco laughed at them as they splashed in the water slightly. "They look like a rabbit's!"

Hermione, having received this comment a lot, finally shouted, "Shut up!" and pushed Draco's shoulder a little too hard. His arms flailed around and his mouth opened in alarm as his body was shoved into the lake.

He disappeared underwater, and resurfaced, sputtering incoherently. "What was that for?"

She laughed mockingly at him, until he pulled her foot until she fell in too. Now they were both in the water. She angrily splashed lake water in his face, and he splashed her back. Soon they were laughing, gasping, and soaking wet.

Draco turned his head and looked at a square of floating dock at the middle of the lake. His eyes were glittering with excitement, much like a little boy's, and said, "I bet you I can beat you to the floating dock over there."

Hermione scoffed at him. "You seriously think you can beat me? I was on the swimming team in the Muggle world before I came to Hogwarts. I was the fastest on the team."

Draco smirked. "Don't brag too soon. I happen to be really good at swimming. What do you get if you win?"

"Full authority on our first child's middle name. You?" Hermione said immediately, pushing hair out of her face. Draco was shocked.

"Wha- That's not fair!" he protested.

"You take the same deal, if you want. But I really doubt you'll win."

"Yeah right. Okay… 3 2 1." He dove underwater and shot through the lake. Hermione barely make out a strangled, "Hey!" before she dove underwater also. Draco was fast, he slipped through the water smoothly. But Hermione was faster. Soon, they were neck to the neck, and their hands simultaneously slapped the dock.

As soon as they resurfaced, they began arguing about who won. In the end, they decided they would compromise the middle name.

They laid down side by side on the wet wooden floating dock, rocking gently with the lake's waves. They looked up at the slowly darkening sky, their breathing calm and slow.

Hermione spoke, "Malfoy…"

"Call me Draco." Draco turned his head to look at her. "It's just that, you know, there's two Malfoys here now, and it would be confusing to call each other Malfoy."

Hermione nodded slowly. "Okay, _Draco._ I just have a really important question."

"Ask me."

"Well, are we going to continue living like this? Forever? Married?"

Draco looked back up at the sky. "Do we have a choice?"

"We guess we don't," Hermione said after a while.

Suddenly, she felt a hand slip into her own. She tensed in alarm and tried to pull away, but Draco flipped over until he was hovering above her body. He leaned down, closer, until their faces were inches apart. She could see little diamonds of color in the pupils of his eyes. They could feel their breaths and body warmth in between them.

Then, just as quickly as it happened, Draco pulled away. They sat in silence, trying to forget. Finally, Draco spoke. "I want to go back."

Hermione said in a dazed voice, "Okay. Let's go." She took Draco's elbow and they disapparated from their magical place at that lake together.


End file.
